Olympics

Italy defeated Canada, 66-44, in the final game of the women's Olympic basketball qualifying tournament. The victory means the Italians will go to Barcelona if Yugoslavia is barred from the Olympic, as is being considered.

The gig: Olympic medalist Anita L. DeFrantz, 61, is president and a director of the LA84 Foundation, the charitable organization that runs off an endowment of surplus funds from the Los Angeles Olympic Games. In the three decades since those games, LA84 has donated more than $214 million to more than 1,100 Southern California youth sports programs, providing opportunities for more than 3 million children. DeFrantz has spent nearly half her life with the organization, formerly known as the Amateur Athletic Foundation.

I watched a video of the movie "Argo" as I flew into Tehran recently. I couldn't help but wonder why I was willingly accompanying a group of Americans into a city that not so long ago was the scene of one of the greatest exfiltrations ever. I wondered if Ben Affleck would rescue me if things were to go poorly. Honestly, I wasn't really worried; I was traveling with the USA Wrestling team and we had been invited by the government of Iran to participate in the World Cup, a tournament where the top wrestling nations vie for international glory.

Michael Phelps will launch his comeback from retirement on Thursday, but the 22-time Olympic medalist won't make any promises about competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. "I'm doing this because I want to get back in the water," he said at a Wednesday afternoon news conference. "I'm having fun. " Phelps will compete in the Arena Grand Prix in Mesa, Ariz., this week. He is scheduled to swim in only one event Thursday morning, sticking with the 100-meter butterfly after announcing that he will skip the 100-meter freestyle.

OLYMPIC URBAN LEGEND : Athletes during the Ancient Greek Olympic Games were amateurs. Until the 1970s, competition in the Olympic Games was reserved for amateur athletes, which in this sense is defined strictly as "athletes who do not get paid to perform their sport. " Slowly but surely various Olympic sports relaxed their rules to allow for professionals to compete in the Olympics and today, there are few Olympic events that only allow amateurs to compete in them (boxing is a notable exception)

Chris Paul, who was at the Clippers' facility Friday to present season-ticket holder Chance Lavitch with keys to a new Jeep Grand Cherokee because he was the half-court shot winner during an April Clippers game at Staples Center, said he still plans on playing on the USA Olympic basketball team. Paul said he especially is looking forward to going to camp next month in Las Vegas with Clippers teammate Blake Griffin. “The last time I played, I was the only member from my team there,” Paul said.

The Olympic Games offer competitors the chance to bathe in national glory and international acclaim. The victors - indeed, all the athletes who aspire to victory - are celebrated in the Olympic motto of "Citius, Altius, Fortius. " Faster, higher, stronger. Yet celebration and aspiration sometimes share the Olympic spotlight with controversy, with scandal and with athletes who train and compete outside the bounds of Citius, Altius and Fortius. One ranking of the 10 least pure moments in the history of the Summer Games: No. 10 (1912)

Re "London's forecast for Games gets gloomier," July 13 Here we go again: Another gloom-and-doom forecast for the Olympics, similar to the predictions of gridlock in Los Angeles in 1984 and of oppressive air pollution in Beijing in 2008. The grand spectacle of the Olympic Games eventually rises above the darkness as a proud world displays the ability to come together for two magical weeks. Robert Langston Dana Point ALSO: Letters: The right to vote -- legally Letters: Private colleges are up to the task Wallis Annenberg: MOCA must look to the future

The 2014 Winter Olympics closing ceremony has ended in Sochi, Russia. Tchaikovsky and fireworks marked the final moments of the proceedings Sunday. The Olympic flag was handed over by Sochi's mayor to the mayor of Pyeongchang, South Korea, host of the next Winter Olympics, and a huge animatronic bear, one of the mascots to these Games, blew out the flame in a version of the Olympic cauldron. MORE: REAL-TIME UPDATES International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach spoke to the crowd, commending Russia and President Vladimir Putin for their hosting of the Games, praising "a new Russia ... efficient and friendly, open to a new world.

The Olympics are supposed to promote peace and goodwill among people and countries. But only one day after the U.S. Olympic Committee announced plans to launch a new cable channel dedicated to coverage of Olympic sports, an international controversy has erupted, threatening to scuttle the channel and Chicago's bid to be the host city for the 2016 Summer Games. The International Olympic Committee, the governing body that organizes the Games, on Thursday scolded the U.S.

The NBC broadcast network, after trailing in the ratings for nearly a decade, could finish the TV season in first place among viewers prized by advertisers. Comcast Corp. executives Tuesday lauded the peacock network's performance, which helped power the Philadelphia cable giant's earnings for the quarter ended March 31. This season, NBC has increased its prime-time audience among viewers ages 18 to 49 - the audience that advertisers pay a premium to reach. "The Blacklist" with James Spader and the singing competition show "The Voice" have been reliable performers.

As if the organizers of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics needed more bad news, angry residents have clashed with police in a slum not far from the planned site of the Games' swimming events. Violence erupted in the Pavao-Pavaozinho neighborhood after the death of Douglas Rafael da Silva Pereira, a dancer on a popular TV show. "The police beat my friend to death, just like they've tortured and killed in other communities," Johanas Mesquita, a 23-year-old resident of Pavao-Pavaozinho, told the Associated Press.

Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps plans to return to competition at the Arena Grand Prix on April 24-26 in Mesa, Ariz., a decision that could lead to a fifth Olympic appearance at Rio in 2016. Phelps, 28, has not competed since the 2012 London Olympics, where he won four gold and six total medals, giving him Olympic career records for both (18 and 22.) Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, told the Chicago Tribune on March 25 the swimmer would probably get into a meet "sometime soon.

Amid growing concerns that Brazil might not be ready to host the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, Olympic officials have launched a series of emergency measures to jump-start the much-delayed preparations. This latest effort follows months of sluggish construction, labor strife and governmental chaos in the host country. “We believe that Rio can and will deliver an excellent Games if the appropriate actions are being taken now,” Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said at a Thursday news conference.

The executive board of the International Olympic Committee begins a two-day meeting in Belek, Turkey, on Wednesday with the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games expected to be a major topic of discussion. Preparations for the Games have been hampered by delays, budget worries and seeming chaos between various levels of government in Brazil. More than 2,000 workers at the Olympic Park construction site have gone on strike and clashed with security personnel. Rio officials met with leaders from various international sports federations at the SportAccord convention in Turkey this week.

Speaking to reporters after a board of directors meeting in Los Angeles on Tuesday, U.S. Olympic Committee leaders said they are in the process of meeting with fewer than 10 American cities interested in bidding for the 2024 Summer Games. The informal discussions will help them decide on two or three domestic finalists. Once the field is narrowed, the USOC will then choose a bid representative -- or choose not to bid at all. "Our goal is to make a decision by the end of the year," said Scott Blackmun, the USOC's chief executive, adding that the current talks have focused on "which cities do we think can put together a bid that is going to be a fantastic bid. " The Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games has been working on details for bringing the Olympics to Los Angeles for a third time.

With less than three months to go before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, the principal drug-testing laboratory in Russia could lose its international accreditation. The World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating the Moscow facility -- which handled testing for the recent world track and field championships -- to be sure it is compliant with agency standards. Arne Ljungqvist, the medical commission chairman for the International Olympic Committee, told the Associated Press that he expects to receive the investigation's findings soon.

The U.S. men's volleyball team is on its way to its eighth consecutive Olympic Games appearance after sweeping Canada on Saturday in the NORCECA regional qualifying tournament at Long Beach State. The scores were 28-26, 25-18, 25-20, leaving the U.S., the defending Olympic champion, with a 5-0 record in a tournament in which it lost just one set. In the third-place game, Cuba rolled past Puerto Rico, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15. Only the winner of the NORCECA event is guaranteed a spot in London.

Concluding a three-day visit to Japan, Olympic inspectors expressed satisfaction Friday with early preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games. The four-man contingent visited a number of existing and potential venues and held discussions with the host country's organizing committee. "Tokyo 2020 has successfully undertaken a number of important steps on its seven-year Olympic journey," said John Coates, chairman of the coordination commission for the International Olympic Committee.